Many vehicles, including agricultural tractors, are provided with some form of roll-over protection structure or system, or ROPS. ROPS are designed to prevent the vehicle from crushing the operator if it accidentally rolls over. A ROPS structure must handle rear, side, & front roll-over loads. Most ROPS structures have included upright supports which require rigidity-adding longitudinal and lateral cross members topped by a canopy. Such structures are shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,085 granted to D. H. Bucher, et al on Jan. 22, 1974, and the U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,430 granted to J. H. Babbitt, Jr., et al on Oct. 15, 1974.
One common ROPS used on small agricultural tractors is a U-shaped bar. The lower ends of the U are attached to the frame of the tractor. As a result, vibrations in the frame are transmitted into the ROPS and the base of the U is positioned in the vicinity of the operator station of the vehicle. Other ROPS designs require a platform structure running forward to front mounts to help handle the loads, similar to a cab frame. Such a typical ROPs is not isolated from vibrations. Noise and vibration in the ROPS can be transmitted to a nearby vehicle operator.